UFC on ESPN+ 18 Betting Tips, Picks and Predictions

September has been a frustrating month so far because we’re down around 1 unit on prefight bets. This is extra annoying because my two most confident bets of the month have gone up in flames under weird circumstances. First of all our bet on Marvin Vettori ended up being canceled when his fight against Andrew Sanchez fell through. Then we had to get a refund for our Jeremy Stephens bet after his fight against Yair Rodriguez ended in a no-contest due to an accidental eye poke.

On paper, September was looking like a bad month for prefight betting, and it certainly has not disappointed so far. Hopefully, we can end the month with a profit by earning some decent cash at UFC Copenhagen this weekend. We also have two Bellator events this weekend to dig into. Hopefully, we can find at least a few rock-solid bets on the 3 major MMA events that take place on Friday and Saturday.

We’ve made about 5 units of profit this month in Live Betting, but it feels like a loss after a horrendous run of bad luck over the last couple of months. This month has been infuriating for Live Betting as we’ve taken two disgusting losses on Edson Barboza and Brandon Moreno in a swing that’s worth just short of 10 units. Anybody with eyeballs would have scored both those fights for Barboza and Moreno, so our run of bad luck continues to get worse.

The positive to take from all this is that we are consistently getting our money into strong positions and we’re almost always on the right side of our Live bets. Sooner or later the bad judging will start to calm down, and we’ll go on another one of our Monster winning streaks!

Fight Betting Tip Pick
Jack Hermansson vs Jared Cannonier No bet Hermansson to win
Mark Madsen vs Danilo Belluardo No bet Madsen to win
Gunnar Nelson vs Gilbert Burns No bet Burns to win
Ion Cutelaba vs Khalil Rountree No bet Rountree to win
Michal Oleksiejczuk vs Ovince St Preux No bet Oleksiejczuk to win
Alex Oliveira vs Nicolas Dalby No bet Oliveira to win
Alen Amedovski vs John Phillips 2 units on Alen Amedovski to win at odds of 1.95 | -105 | 19/20 Amedovski to win
Alessio Di Chirico vs Makhmud Muradov 2 units on Makhmud Muradov to win at odds of 1.68 | -147 | 17/25 Muradov to win
Ismail Naurdiev vs Siyar Bahadurzada No bet Naurdiev to win
Brandon Davis vs Giga Chikadze 2 units on Brandon Davis to win at odds of 1.74 | -135 | 37/50 Davis to win
Lina Lansberg vs Macy Chiasson No bet Chiasson to win
Lando Vannata vs Marc Diakiese No bet Vannata to win
Jack Shore vs Nohelin Hernandez No bet Hernandez to win

Alen Amedovski vs John Phillips Betting Tip and Prediction

John Phillips’ nickname is “The White Mike Tyson,” and on the most basic of levels, that’s the reason why we are going to bet against him this weekend at UFC Copenhagen.

In 2019; you cannot expect to survive in the UFC unless you have some form of takedown defense and some form of a ground game. Phillips’ nickname of The White Mike Tyson tells you all you need to know about his fighting style. He simply cannot defend a takedown, and he is less than White Belt level on the ground. He has had almost 30 pro fights in his career and he has never shown signs of evolving into a more complete Mixed Martial Artist.

Alen Amedovski is primarily a striker, but he did show flashes of grappling in one of his first MMA fights waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy back in 2015. You can take a look at it here:

Amedovski’s performance in that fight certainly wasn’t perfect. He repeatedly gave up position and made technical errors, but even the level of grappling he showed back in 2015 will be enough to take Phillips down and dominate him on the ground.

Since that fight Amedovski has been training full time in Italy with UFC legend, Alessio Sakara. His offensive wrestling and ground game should have improved considerably since that fight back in 2015, but even if it hasn’t, he should still be able to ragdoll Phillips to the ground and do whatever he wants to him.

Standing up this fight is a bit more difficult to predict because there’s not too much footage available on Amedovski’s striking. What we do know is that he’s very aggressive and hits like a truck. He carries legit 1 shot KO power in every strike:

Obviously a guy with a nickname like “The White Mike Tyson” is going to have decent Boxing and power in his hands, but that’s the only threat that Phillips brings to the table. He’s very one dimensional. He doesn’t throw kicks. He has no clinch game, and he can’t grapple.

On the ground, Amedovski has a giant advantage over John Phillips. Unfortunately, because of the limited footage available on him over the last few years, we don’t know how willing he is going to be to take this fight to the ground, but his grappling advantages alone mean that we simply have to cap him at least 60% here.

Standing up the fight is much more difficult to call, because again there’s limited footage available on Amedovski, although it is worth noting that it’s possible he’s also a better striker than Phillips.

At roughly even money this is an absolute no brainer of a bet. Amedovski has a gigantic advantage when it comes to grappling, and it’s also possible that he is the superior striker. Maybe Phillips has an advantage striking, but like many of his fights, he won’t get a chance to exercise that advantage if his opponent fights smart and puts him on his back.

Reasons for betting on Alen Amedovski

[ultimate_icon_list icon_size=”18″][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]John Phillips has absolutely no takedown defense.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Alen Amedovski has demonstrated some offensive wrestling back in 2015, which is enough to take Phillips down and dominate him on the ground.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]John Phillips has absolutely no ground game. He is less than White Belt Level.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Alen Amedovski trains full time in Italy with UFC legend, Alessio Sakara.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Alen Amedovski hits very hard. He has legit 1 shot KO power in every strike.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Alen Amedovski is very aggressive.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]John Phillips is very one dimensional. He is just a pure Boxer. He doesn’t throw kicks. He has no clinch game and he can’t grapple. [/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Alen Amedovski is the much more complete MMA fighter.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Alen Amedovski showed in his UFC debut against Jotko that he’s very tough and has good cardio.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]John Phillips has bad fight IQ.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][/ultimate_icon_list]

Risk Factors with betting on Alen Amedovski

[ultimate_icon_list icon_size=”18″][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-exclamation-triangle warning” icon_color=”#ea5e50″]John Phillips is extremely tough.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-exclamation-triangle warning” icon_color=”#ea5e50″]John Phillips has a godlike chin.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-exclamation-triangle warning” icon_color=”#ea5e50″]John Phillips hits very hard. He has legit 1 shot KO power in every strike.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-exclamation-triangle warning” icon_color=”#ea5e50″]We don’t know how willing Amedovski will be to use his wrestling. Maybe he’ll have bad fight IQ and want to keep the fight standing.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][/ultimate_icon_list]

My Betting Tip

Alen Amedovski to win

Recommended Stake

2 units

[2% of your bankroll]

Odds

Decimal = 1.95
Moneyline = -105
Fractional = 19/20

51%

Implied Probability

The bookies believe that Alen Amedovski has a 51% chance of beating John Phillips based on their current odds.

60%

Our Probability

I believe that Alen Amedovski has a 60% chance of beating John Phillips based on my extensive research and analysis.

Brandon Davis vs Giga Chikadze Betting Tip and Prediction

Betting on Brandon Davis to beat Giga Chikadze is risky because there’s not much recent MMA footage available on Chikadze. The only recent footage we have is his 2018 appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series. I recommend that you click here to watch that fight so that you can see exactly why I feel Davis is a decent bet at the current odds.

If you’ve been one of my members for a while, you’ll know that MMA records don’t usually mean anything to me because fights are fought in a cage, not on paper. But this is one of those rare occasions where a Win / Loss record must weigh into our decision making when capping this fight because my Spidey senses started to tingle when I saw Chikadze’s record. His record looks really suspicious because he’s only ever fought an opponent with a winning record one time in his entire 9 fight career and he actually lost that fight. Take a look and see for yourself. He has only fought an extremely low level of opponent throughout his career:

Chikadze is a Glory Kickboxer, but his striking didn’t exactly blow me away when I watched him compete on Dana White’s Contender Series. He looked quite passive, so there’s a good chance that Davis outworks him if the fight stays standing. Davis has a base in Muay Thai, and he’s very strong in the clinch. He also has cardio to fight at a high pace for 3 rounds, and he has an amazing chin. It’s very possible that he could outstrike Chikadze, despite Chikadze’s Kickboxing pedigree.

On the ground is where Davis will have a huge advantage. When Davis came into the UFC, he was purely a striker, but in his last two fights, we have seen him start to go to his wrestling in order to mix things up and put his stamp on rounds. Chikadze has really bad takedown defense and a low-level ground game. If Davis starts to use his grappling, he should be able to win easily.

We also have to take into consideration the fact that Chikadze is making his UFC debut and a massive percentage of fighters lose their first fight in the UFC. This will also be a huge step up in competition for him. Davis is by far the toughest guy that he has ever fought.

After a rough start to his UFC career, Davis recently dropped from Bantamweight to Featherweight. The weight cut to 135 was too brutal for him, though, and he didn’t look good at all in his last two fights. The good news is that Davis is now moving back up to 145 for this fight against Chikadze.

I cap Davis at around 65% to 70% here because this is Chikadze’s debut, he’s only fought a low level of opponent up until this point in his career, and his takedown defense and ground game is very poor. It’s also very possible that Davis may have an advantage if this fight stays standing. This bet carries extra risk because there’s not much recent MMA footage available on Chikadze, but from what I’ve seen Davis stands a great chance of winning. At the current odds, I am happy to take a small gamble on Davis.

Reasons for betting on Brandon Davis

[ultimate_icon_list icon_size=”18″][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Giga Chikadze has only ever fought a very low level of opponent. He has only ever fought 1 opponent with a winning MMA record. He lost that fight…[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]This is Chikadze’s UFC debut. A massive percentage of fighters lose their first fight in the UFC.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Chikadze has very bad takedown defense.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Chikadze has a very low level ground game.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Brandon Davis has shown a willingness to start using grappling in his last couple of fights.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Brandon Davis is moving back up to Featherweight for this fight.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Brandon Davis is extremely tough and he has a great chin. [/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Brandon Davis is primarily a striker who throws a varied and high volume of strikes per round.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Brandon Davis will have a big advantage in the clinch.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][/ultimate_icon_list]

Risk Factors with betting on Brandon Davis

[ultimate_icon_list icon_size=”18″][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-exclamation-triangle warning” icon_color=”#ea5e50″]Chikadze is a Glory Kickboxer.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-exclamation-triangle warning” icon_color=”#ea5e50″]Chikadze is a dangerous, technical kickboxer.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-exclamation-triangle warning” icon_color=”#ea5e50″]Chikadze hits very hard.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-exclamation-triangle warning” icon_color=”#ea5e50″]There isn’t much recent MMA footage available on Chikadze. He may show up and look much better than he did on Dana White’s Contender Series.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][/ultimate_icon_list]

My Betting Tip

Brandon Davis to win

Recommended Stake

2 units

[2% of your bankroll]

Odds

Decimal = 1.74
Moneyline = -135
Fractional = 37/50

57%

Implied Probability

The bookies believe that Brandon Davis has a 57% chance of beating Giga Chikadze based on their current odds.

65%

Our Probability

I believe that Brandon Davis has a 65% chance of beating Giga Chikadze based on my extensive research and analysis.

Alessio Di Chirico vs Makhmud Muradov Betting Tip and Prediction

Before researching this fight, I was very interested in how Makhmud Muradov would look because he is the only MMA fighter currently signed to Floyd Mayweather’s TMT stable of athletes.

This is an important detail to pay attention to because Mayweather is a smart businessman who wouldn’t risk his reputation or brand by getting behind someone who couldn’t live up to the hype. I’ve read many investment books over the years, and a common theme is “Always follow the money.” This means that if you see a successful Investor, Invest in a new technology or business; then you should probably consider getting involved too.

Mayweather is loose with his cash when it comes to Girls, Cars, and Clothes, but he’s an intelligent guy who isn’t loose when it comes to his businesses or brands. For him to sign Muradov, there’s likely something special there…

Within just a few minutes of watching Muradov, you can tell that he’s good. He’s a strong offensive wrestler with a decent ground game and technical striking. He has fast hands, vicious combinations, and devastating head kicks. He also does a great job of landing fight-ending strikes in close proximity or on the exit from the clinch position. After watching Muradov’s last 4 fights, I believe he’s significantly better than Di Chirico in every single aspect of MMA.

Di Chirico is one of those guys that is just very average at everything. He’s not the most technical striker, doesn’t have much power in his hands, and he’s also not a very strong grappler. He also has bad cardio and bad fight IQ. Di Chirico’s main weakness is his passive style of fighting. He lacks urgency and struggles to put his stamp on rounds.

This is a great stylistic matchup for Muradov because he’s better than Di Chirico everywhere. Di Chirico’s passive fighting style also means that Muradov will have time to grow into the fight and get comfortable competing in his UFC debut.

From a technical point of view, this is an excellent fight for Muradov, but there are a couple of X-Factors which add additional risk to this bet. The first is that this is Muradov’s UFC debut and a lot of fighters lose their debut because they struggle with the pressure of fighting under the bright lights of the UFC for the first time.

The second risk factor is that Muradov will be taking this fight on less than 2 weeks notice. It is, however, worth noting that I am not too concerned about this because he currently looks in great shape. This Instagram post was published very recently:

View this post on Instagram

After good sparring 5×5 round ??? UFC Fight Night 160 Copenhagen I’m coming ✊? —————————————————- Альхамдулиллах подготовки идут полным ходом,чувствую себя хорошо ?? Большое всем спасибо за вашу поддержку ✊? Ин Ша Аллах 28 сентября мы идём за победой ??✊? —————————————————— Po večerním tréninku sparringy 5×5 MMA MONSTER ??? Příprava běží jak má, cítím se skvěle moc vám všem děkuji za vaší podporu 28.9 jedeme společně pro další vítěztví ??✊? #UFC #mmamonster #muradov #TMT #uzbek #copenhagen #ufcfightnight #ready #sparring #muradovteam #ankos #czechrepublic #czech #prague #win #hardwork #brothers

A post shared by Makhmud “Mach” Muradov (@makhmud_muradov) on

As you can see, Muradov looks in fantastic shape. He also recently posted that he broke his record for Hill sprint times which also indicates that he’s currently in great shape:

View this post on Instagram

Альхамдулиллах ☝? сегодня Я покорил свой рекорд, спринты в гору с отягощениям 20 кг 10 раз ???‍♂️ ⛰ Нет ничего невозможного, все зависит только от вас. Не откладывайте нечего на завтра,начинайте сегодня,прямо сейчас ☝? ———————————————————— Dnes jsem překonal svůj rekord – 10x sprinty do kopce s 20kg vestou ???‍♂. Nic není nemožné, záleží jen na Vás. Nic neodkládejte na zítřek, začněte dnes, právě teď ☝? Děkuji @xiaomiczech za chytrý náramek, který mi pomáhá při přípravě #MiBand4 #mma #muradov #mach #xiaomiczech #ready #TMT #run #oktagon15 #oktagonmma #oksazky #uzbek #uzbekistan #doublered #motivation #mmamonster #ankos #work #hardwork

A post shared by Makhmud “Mach” Muradov (@makhmud_muradov) on

The above message was posted just last week and translates to:

Today I broke my record – 10x uphill sprints with 20kg vest ? ?‍♂. Nothing is impossible; it is up to you. Don’t postpone until tomorrow, start today, right now ☝ Thank you @xiaomiczech for the smart bracelet that helps me prepare

The third and final risk factor is that we have not seen Muradov fight under USADA before although it’s worth noting that he has taken this fight on short notice, so USADA drug testing is unlikely to impact him until his next fight.

It’s always risky betting on a fighter making their UFC debut, but the skill gap between Muradov and Di Chirico looks to be substantial, so I am happy to take a gamble here at reasonably good odds.

Reasons for betting on Makhmud Muradov

[ultimate_icon_list icon_size=”18″][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Muradov is better than Di Chirico in every single aspect of MMA.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Muradov has good cardio.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Alessio Di Chirico has questionable cardio and tends to slow down as the fight progresses.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Muradov has legit KO power in every strike.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Di Chirico lacks power in his hands. He only has one finish in his last 7 fights.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Alessio Di Chirico has a passive style of fighting. He lacks urgency.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Alessio Di Chirico has bad fight IQ. [/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Muradov throws a very diverse range of strikes.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-check” icon_color=”#679f42″]Muradov is a strong offensive wrestler.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][/ultimate_icon_list]

Risk Factors with betting on Makhmud Muradov

[ultimate_icon_list icon_size=”18″][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-exclamation-triangle warning” icon_color=”#ea5e50″]Muradov is making his UFC debut. Fighters often underperform in their debut.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-exclamation-triangle warning” icon_color=”#ea5e50″]Muradov is taking this fight on around 2 week’s notice.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-exclamation-triangle warning” icon_color=”#ea5e50″]Muradov hasn’t fought under USADA before.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][ultimate_icon_list_item icon=”Defaults-exclamation-triangle warning” icon_color=”#ea5e50″]Muradov has only fought a low level of opponent.[/ultimate_icon_list_item][/ultimate_icon_list]

My Betting Tip

Makhmud Muradov to win

Recommended Stake

2 units

[2% of your bankroll]

Odds

Decimal = 1.68
Moneyline = -147
Fractional = 17/25

60%

Implied Probability

The bookies believe that Makhmud Muradov has a 60% chance of beating Alessio Di Chirico based on their current odds.

65%

Our Probability

I believe that Makhmud Muradov has a 65% chance of beating Alessio Di Chirico based on my extensive research and analysis.

I'm a Professional Gambler from the UK. I specialize in betting on MMA. I've got 1 kid, a Shih Tzu and I've been making money from gambling for around 8 years now.

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